Are you contemplating the idea of selling all your stuff and relocating to a city that would always give you something to do and see and help you prevent boredom? If your answer is yes, then maybe you should start looking for a rental in San Francisco, the vibrant Californian city who has inspired many prominent personalities, including Anthony Bourdain, who made shocking statement, declaring the following: “Anyone who doesn’t have a great time in San Francisco is pretty much dead to me.”

Why Should You Consider Moving to San Francisco?

Jokes and exaggerations aside, we could probably give you one million different reasons that would justify your intention to pack your bags and start a new life as a tenant in San Francisco. The friendly people, countless attractive job opportunities in different sectors, wonderful golden sunsets, beautiful rolling hills and majestic surrounding forests are only a few of the elements that define this pretty picture.

Believe it or not, San Francisco is the only city in the world that has actually found a name for its fog: Karl the Fog is incredibly active on Twitter and shares the funniest messages that could put a smile on your face even after the most stressful day at work. “Goodnight San Francisco. May you dream of finding someone special who responds to your texts with more than one word answers” is the kind of statement that makes you love Karl the Fog and realize that even the least pleasant factors can gain positive connotations in San Francisco.

The ever-changing weather stops you from investing in seasonal clothing storage and lets you wear your best-loved wardrobe highlights year-round. Moreover, San Francisco is a dreamy environment with redwood forests, cool beaches and mountains. If you’re into spicy Mexican food, you’ll want to spend the rest of your days in this city, which is also famous for its healthy bike epidemic, great famers’ markets, huge parks and a nurturing sense of community. In a nutshell, San Francisco is filled with temptations that may convince you to pour all your savings into a for rent or for sale property.

5 Things That You Should Know before Renting a Place in San Francisco

Now that we have shown you the main advantages that your big move could help you unlock, perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at different aspects that you should consider before starting your first apartment search in San Francisco.

Renting an Apartment in San Francisco Isn’t Exactly Cheap. How much money do you have in your bank account and how much do you expect to make on a monthly basis? Based on these answers, you can figure out whether or not a San Francisco rental would be the perfect match for you. As a recent article published by Huffington Post points out, you would have to earn at least $137,129 per year to be able to afford a new roof over your head in San Francisco. According to the same source, the most expensive city in America is constantly getting more expensive, and can become the core of a tenant’s worst nightmare. With rental rates exceeding the $4,000 milestone, it’s safe to say that you would require significant financial support to get the keys to a 2-bedroom apartment located in San Francisco’s most desirable neighborhoods, such as Dogpatch and South Beach, where rentals are in the $4,300 range.

You Can Always Target a Few Budget-Friendly Neighborhoods in San Francisco. Truth be told, some parts of the city let you discover attractive rentals carrying less prohibitive price tags. For instance, the foggy Richmond District comprises more than a few appealing for rent properties that you could occupy for approximately $2,750 per month. Not many people could afford to list these options as bargains, but still, a house under $2,800 per month available in this area, or in other cheaper neighborhoods such as Oceanview, Outer Sunset or Excelsior, is the most convenient alternative to that $4,170 Panhandle –based rental apartment that you like to daydream about, but can’t afford.

The Local Real Estate Market Is Extremely Diverse. From single-family homes in the $2,000 range to small studios that cost twice as much, San Francisco will always overwhelm you with a great variety of properties for rent, matching different budget, lifestyles and expectations. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to count on a great apartment finding service to spot and compare properties with just a few clicks before investing a dime in a new home.

Buying May Not Be the Best Call. Yes, you could choose to bring stability to your life and take on new responsibilities by exploring the advantages of home ownership. At the end of the day, if you can afford to buy a piece of real estate, you could always turn your new house or apartment into a high-end rental to supplement your income and strike gold as a landlord. However, you should know that this option is feasible only if you’re already sitting on a pile of money, given that the median home sales price is estimated at $1,080,000 and reflects a 13% increase compared to the numbers reported one year ago, while the average listing price is $1,337,951 and indicates a 1.6% growth, according to the stats published by Trulia.

You Can Always Find the Most Attractive Rentals in Your Price Range with Apartment Hunterz. Even when you’re intimidated by sky-high costs and your lack of information related to local real estate markets, you can still find convenient rentals in San Francisco and in any other Californian city, using the data provided by Apartment Hunterz. Take a look at thousands of recent listings, pick and save your favorites and benefit from an ample collection of tools especially designed to turn your apartment search into a lovely experience.

You don’t have to know everything about the Californian real estate market to realize that discovering an affordable rental in the San Francisco Bay Area is like finding a needle in a giant, ever-growing haystack. As the local job markets keep attracting thousands of newcomers, prices will most stay high, discouraging budget-conscious families looking for a new roof over their heads. In 2014, buying a home in the Bay Area was 6% more expensive than renting one.

Target the Best Tenant-Friendly Cities in the Bay Area

Since prestigious companies continue to recruit new talents and market their tempting job openings, each year more individuals start digging deeper for affordable housing in this area. In 2013, San Jose welcomed 17,000 new individuals, while San Francisco gathered more than 10,000 new residents. In this context, you are probably wondering: Would it be a smart move to relocate to San Francisco or find a relatively inexpensive rental in the Bay Area? It all depends on your short and long-term goals. Nonetheless, if you are concerned about the short supply of accommodation options, correlated with the high demand and the hefty price tags, you should know that getting the keys to a nice, affordable for rent property is (still) an achievable goal.

For starters, you should check out the listings available in tenant-friendly cities located in the Bay Area. Palo Alto, Cupertino, San Jose, Los Gatos, Burlingame and Sunnyvale are only a few options that you should consider if you are determined to move to a nice city where housing won’t burn holes in your pockets. In January, renting an apartment was 27 times cheaper than buying one in Burlingame; at the same time, Cupertino had a high rental vacancy rate (4.9%), while San Jose residents spent only 28% of their monthly income estimated at $122,476 on rent. If you want to discover and rate the most appealing tenant-friendly cities and neighborhoods in California, use the insight offered by Apartment Hunterz to make your own list of favorites.

5 Tips on How to Lower Your Rent in Any Californian City

On second thought, maybe you want to skip this step because you have already chosen a city where you would like to put down roots, raise your kids and build a new career. Perhaps you love the new environment, but can’t help but notice that some of the most amazing rentals that you would like to occupy are way out of your league. In this case, you may want to apply the five following tips to reduce your rental rates, while establishing a stronger connection with your landlord.

Ask Your Landlord for a for a Rent Reduction. Many people miss out on various opportunities on a regular basis simply because they’re too shy to ask for the things that they would like to get from their friends, relatives, business partners or employers. If you want to spend less money on rent each month, ask your landlord for a reduction. This simple strategy may return the desirable results, especially on a niche with an oversupply, where potential tenants are in the position to negotiate, make deals and influence the market.

Come up with an Ingenious a Game Plan. Unfortunately, if you’re tackling some of the most desirable cities and neighborhoods in the Bay Area, plan A may turn out to be ineffective. In this situation, switch to plan B and start to research your options. Get familiar with market prices and do a bit of digging into your landlord’s background. Find out how he is currently marketing his units and what he is offering to tenants who are contemplating the idea of renewing their leases. If your landlord is experiencing financial hardship associated with vacancies or any other factors, he may be more inclined to cut you a deal.

Learn to Sell Yourself. Finding a reliable tenant is no easy task, even in some of the most sought-after areas where prospects would be willing to shed thousands of dollars on for rent properties. This is why landlords sometimes offer incentives to good old tenants who are getting ready to negotiate their new lease. Highlight the aspects that make you a great candidate, including your financial situation, attitude and reliability to prep the field for a mutually advantageous partnership.

Put Your Bartering Skills to the Test. As a last resort, you may rely on a certain form of trade to strike a deal with your landlord. Maybe the owner of the property that you are currently occupying is in desperate need of your services. Who knows? Maybe he is interested in professional landscaping services that would enhance the curb appeal of his rental and your expertise qualifies you as the best candidate for this job; or maybe your landlord would appreciate a helping hand from a dependable onsite property manager. Offer your services to lower your rent and establish a deeper connection with your landlord.

Use a Great Apartment Finding Service. OK, so maybe the first round of negotiations with your landlord failed to deliver the results that you were expecting. What now? Instead of overspending on a rental that you are not 100% satisfied with, keep your options open and monitor the local real estate market to identify the hottest offers before anyone else. You don’t need to spend hours on different websites to follow this plan; instead, you could use the concierge service created by Apartment Hunterz. California’s preferred apartment finding service discovers and filters the most attractive listings that are compatible with your selection criteria; as soon as it finds the best matches for you, it will notify you through an email or text message. Rapid, reliable and affordable, this handy platform has revolutionized the way in which people conduct an apartment hunt. Start using it today and discover the benefits of a cost-effective, simplified targeted search.

Most newcomers are already fully aware of the fact that finding a great roof over their heads in San Francisco isn’t exactly a child’s play. After ruling out all those lavishing properties with indoor wellness centers and other luxurious amenities that cost extra, you are basically left with a whole bunch of listings that don’t actually promise to change your life in a radical manner. Even so, most of them sound pretty nice and guarantee a high level of comfort, so how could you possibly choose the right one fast and effortlessly? Here are a few pointers that you may want to consider if you have already decided to give life in San Francisco a try.

Set Realistic Goals

First of all, don’t wait for miracles to happen. The local rental market is overly competitive. Due to the fact that San Francisco provides more than a few tempting job opportunities, this cosmopolitan Californian city is targeted by hundreds of newcomers hoping for a quick upgrade, a fatter paycheck and a more satisfying life. This is precisely why you should underline your goals before analyzing any listings. Are you looking for a long-term arrangement or for a house that you could use as a second residence? How much are you willing to spend on this San Francisco rental? How big would you want your property to be? Do you have your heart set on a certain Zip code? These are very important questions that you need to answer before going any further.

Let the Unit, Price and Location Be Your Main Selection Criteria

Assuming that you already know what your rental property should look like, now would be the best time for an in-depth analysis. Focus on what real estate experts normally call the “constraint triangle”: unit, location and price. Some prospects are madly in love with rentals located in the Mission or in SoMa (South of Market-a relatively large and extremely popular San Francisco neighborhood) and choose to pay the price for luxurious, high-end accommodation options that wouldn’t exactly be suitable for people who are living from paycheck to paycheck. At the same time, potential tenants should also be prepared to make compromises when it comes to adding or removing amenities from their wishlist. Onsite parking, gym and in-unit washer and dryer are only a few of the attributes that could raise the rental costs of a property, so ask yourself this: do you really need all these extras?

Know That There’s Always an Easier Way to Spot Great Rentals

Let’s agree on one matter: San Francisco is an extremely diverse and stimulating environment providing lots of accommodation options. This could only mean that finding the right one takes time. Naturally, you could speed up the entire process by teaming up with the largest Californian apartment finder. By giving you access to the hottest listings and tips for tenants, Apartment Hunterz makes it easier for you to find a great place in your favorite Californian city in a matter of days.

San Francisco is the city where you hunt down some of the best job offers in the state of California. After landing the gig of your dreams, you work hard from dusk till dawn to get your hands on a fat paycheck. But what exactly do you do for fun? If you don’t have any plans for next Saturday, we give you a list of suggestions that could keep you busy and entertained throughout the weekend.

1. Sample a Handcrafted Cocktail. In San Francisco, it is never too early for a good old cocktail. But we’re not talking about any kind of long drink. The handcrafted cocktail trend was perfected in this city, where skilled bartenders follow very specific rules and guidelines to incorporate the most bizarre and arguably healthy ingredients, such as lemongrass, lychee or fenugreek, in one-of-a-kind alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink recipes.

2. Spend Quality Time with Your Loved Ones at Presidio. If you can’t get enough of greenery, fresh air and a stimulating ambiance, pack your picnic table and chairs and spend a few hours in the Presidio of San Francisco. For more than two centuries, Presidio was used as a key army post for 3 nations. Famous for its ties with the past, Presidio stimulates you to contemplate its amazing architectural details, forests, beaches and national cemetery. Here you can spot vintage food trucks, play sports with your kids or simply meditate in the tall grass.

3. Book a Table at Yank Sing and Eat Specialties Whose Names You Can’t Pronounce. When in San Francisco, take chances. Forget all about fries and tasty, succulent burgers for just one day and indulge in the odd-looking yet incredibly delicious treats served at Yank Sing. The fresh dim sum and shanghai dumplings filled with ginger, scallion and pork are listed among the most popular dishes that you should try at least once in your life, even if you can’t pronounce their names right.

4. If You’re Food-Obsessed, Visit the Ferry Building Marketplace. Who doesn’t love successful culinary experiments and fresh, organic products that are good enough to make your mouth water? Those who wake up early on the Saturday have the opportunity to visit the famous Ferry Building Marketplace and walk away with fairly accessible goodies sold by 75 local farmers.

5. Start Your House Hunt. If you already picture the rest of your life in the vibrant San Francisco, wouldn’t it be a smart move to start looking for your own place? Assuming that you can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars on a permanent residence, do keep in mind that you could always count on professional apartment locating services to spot the most convenient rentals in your price range. By working closely with Apartmnt Hunterz and checking their recent listings regularly you could stumble across the house or apartment of your dreams in no time.

San Francisco is known as one of the most densely populated U.S.-based environments. The American city that attracts investors, newcomers and tourists like a magnet gives you plenty of attractive things to do and contemplate. After a long day spent at the office, you may want to relax and go for a walk. Leave your car at home, wear your most comfortable pair of shoes and target the three special San Francisco-based sites that will amaze you with their beauty.

Pacific Heights. Pacific Heights is known as the home of some of the wealthiest dwellers in San Francisco. This is precisely why this area is famous for its superb well-establishes Victorian homes, gorgeous views, astonishing architectural details and large parks. You could start your Saturday walk at Lafayette Park, where you would also get the chance to analyze the particularities of a charming neighborhood and check out a few alluring rental properties in your price range.

The Golden Gate Bridge. Some people love to feel like they are on top of the world. If you share this passion, do not forget to let your favorite pair of flats guide you towards the walking path of the Golden Gate Bridge. The two mile span ensures breathtaking views from around 200 ft. over the water. To make the most of your walk, don’t forget to wear a warm cape and a hat or any other type of clothing item and accessories that could provide a superior protection against the wild wind that usually swipes this area.

Yerba Buena Gardens. Looking for a less pretentious destination that would definitely be appreciated by all your family members? Yerba Buena Gardens located on Mission Street in the Financial District, is a fantastic urban park encompassing all the little wonders that you may need to have a good time, including winding paths, colorful flowers, a small waterfall and artwork.

At the end of the day, you would just have to choose one of these three prime locations and enjoy a relaxing walk that will recharge your batteries and enable you to get more familiar with San Francisco’s unique views and ambiance. But before hopping on a plane, make sure you plan every single detail related to your stay in San Francisco. Instead of booking a hotel room, choose to save big and experience the superior level of comfort provided by a San Francisco rental. According to Business Insider, an average rental with one bedroom located in this vibrant city was in the $3,120 range in June 20014, reflecting a considerable increase compared to the median rental price reported last year, estimated at $2795. The bustling economy, the great views and the diverse and exciting leisure activities are only three aspects that make San Francisco such a sought-after city to live in. Discover the rest by renting a place here with a little bit of help from Apartment Hunterz, your trusted Californian apartment finder.